Revelations
by Kayleigh-talitha
Summary: A short interval taking place in ‘Four Horsemen’ to explain the mystery of the missing Green dog that only appeared in the pilot.


**Author's note:** Takes place directly in the season 1 episode 'Four Horsemen'. Before the men go out for information.

**Rating:** PG

**Warnings:** none

**Summary:** A short interval taking place in 'Four Horsemen' to explain the mystery of the missing Green dog that only appeared in the pilot.

~ * ~

"Jake, do you have a minute?"

Sooth smeared heads turned to the young red-haired docter who had addressed the former rebel of Jericho, one of the filthy men huddled in the corner of the medical clinic, their hushed conversation stopping like she had interrupted something secret. Jake nodded to her, telling the others to go to the pub and wait for him there. There were no objections, they seemed happy with the fact somebody was taking charge even if that somebody used to be the biggest screw-up in Jericho, funny how things could change, he noted to himself as he followed April to a room. As she patted on the examination bed he raised an eyebrow.

"You talked to my mom."

"This check-up has been long overdue Jake, it won't take long, just let me redress before you go off on another one of your missions. Now drop 'em."

"You've been waiting for the opportunity to say that," he teased as she crossed her arms, motioning for him to hurry up. He wondered why she was bothering when the clinic was overflowing with real patients who needed help, he wasn't in any need for help but he knew better then to say that, instead he kicked off his shoes, followed by his filthy jeans.

"You talked to my mom," he repeated again as he hopped onto the bed, making a face when his wound pulled, okay so maybe the leg was bothering him more but that still didn't make him a patient worth seeing.

"Good thing I did," April finally admitted, making Jake chuckle because he hadn't expected anything else. He shouldn't have admitted to her that his leg had bothered him; it was like a red flag to a bull. And she would insist that as a mother she had every right to worry over her boys, boys who were very much grown up but still she insisted on worrying.

"It's fine, I've been walking too much but…..AU! April!"

The bandage had been stuck to the wound and when she ripped it off, it definitely hurt and therefore making everything he just had said a lie, her look to him said as much as she showed him the bandage that was bloodied and filled with other fluids as well.

"Does that look fine to you?"

Jake knew better then to answer that one, instead he glanced to the wound that had been opened up again, the edges red and inflamed and definitely infected. Well, that explained why it had been bothering him, he had thought it had been the salt from the mine. With a groan he sat back, letting his sister-in-law work as she cleaned the wound, scolding all the time, something he had learned to tune out a long time ago, it was a trick of survival when growing up in the Green House.

"I'm going to get a suture kit and some antibiotics, don't go anywhere."

He was about to say I won't as he noticed something very important was missing, something he would need if he wanted to get out of here, his jeans. April had definitely spend too much time with Gail Green he thought to himself as he laughed, realising he was stuck unless he was going around town in just his boxer shorts. A few minutes later, his family started filling into the small room he was in, all three grinning and he knew why when he spotted his jeans in his mother's arms. So April had filled them in, great.

"Hey, she's your wife," he pointed out to Eric who gave a look in return. But something was off; he could swear there were unshed tears in his mother's eyes, so what was going on now? He looked at his father, silently asking for explanation as to why the entire Green family was here when there was still so much to be done.

"What? It's just an infection, I'm not dying here. What's going on?"

Eric shuffled and glanced to Johnston who in turn glanced at Gail before locking eyes with Jake, clearing his throat before speaking.

"Son, Eric just checked the house and Buddy didn't survive the storm."

Jake swallowed, that wasn't news he was expecting to hear and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Sure they all knew it was bound to happen, Buddy was an old dog, had been in the family for years; no wonder his mother was upset. She and himself had always been spoiling the dog, he was going to miss Buddy but maybe it was for the best, he was spared of the harsh winter that was going to come soon.

"I want to bury him," he finally said as he glanced to Gail who need with a small smile, he knew she wanted it that way, most of their animals had been buried at the ranch. Eric said he was going to take their old folks home and check in at the sheriff's office. Once they left, April was back, as promised with the meds which she handed to him after suturing and redressing the wound.

"I recommend rest but I know with you that that's like telling a duck to stop swimming."

Jake grinned and half shrugged, it wasn't like he could help it, too much needed to be done and he wasn't going to sit around and watch. Just as he was about to leave the clinic, he ran into Heather who was limping probably just as much as he did, but she made it look kinda cute with her one crutch.

"Hey Jake."

"Hey, how's the leg?"

She waved it away as she tucked a strand of hair behind an ear, glancing past him a few times, something she did whenever she was nervous he had noticed. Or maybe he made her nervous, he wasn't sure yet with Heather Lisinski, she was somewhat of a mystery.

"Oh it's fine. I heard about your friend Buddy, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it's going to be weird not having him around the house. Before I left, he was the one who always woke me up by jumping on the bed but I think my mom let him do that on purpose so she wouldn't have to wake me."

She looked at him confused and then suddenly flushed, which made him look at her puzzled, now what did he say to make her react like that?

"I didn't you know you were….you know…" She stuttered.

"What, that I like animals? Just because I grew up in a farmer family, doesn't mean I don't love animals," he teased, watching in amazement as she flushed even more. This was getting ridiculous, he didn't do anything.

"Huh? Buddy is…?"

"Was my dog," he finished for her, finally realizing why she had been blushing and what she had been talking about, he couldn't help it, he laughed softly as she looked somewhat horrified at her own mistake.

"Oh!"

"Yeah, I'm not gay."

"Well, that's….well you know…..good for you I guess…..I'm going to go inside now before anything else makes its way out of my mouth."

Giving him an awkward kind of wave, she did just that, leaving Jake as quickly as she could while he chuckled, conversations with Heather were definitely interesting and never boring. With a shake of his head he made his way to the pub, trying to walk without limping too much because the others were already calling him Gimpy or Limpy. As he opened the door and saw the rest waiting in the back, looking at him expectantly, he nodded. There was work to be done and people were counting on him. He may have left as a screw-up but at least people started to realize he wasn't that guy anymore, maybe being stuck in Jericho wasn't all that bad after all.


End file.
